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"From the outside, it appears crazy," the young defender says, as he looks back on his summer just gone, when rapid transformation felt like a constant. "However, that's just how it goes ... football is a crazy game."

A Quick Recap

Days after claiming victory in the European Under-21 Championship with England at the conclusion of June, Quansah decided to leave Liverpool, to go to Bayer Leverkusen in a £30m deal.

The big fee brought high expectations as the 22-year-old was tasked with settling in in a new country and at a team where the turnover was substantial. The new manager had stepped in to succeed the previous coach and a host of star performers were gone or going – including several high-profile names, key squad members, Jeremie Frimpong, prominent athletes, Granit Xhaka, established players and team leaders.

League Introduction

Quansah's first league appearance came on August 23rd at their home ground to Hoffenheim and the centre-half found the net after the opening minutes, though the achievement was undercut by sadness. All he could think about was Diogo Jota, who was tragically lost in a road incident. Quansah executed Jota's gamer celebration as a mark of respect.

"To have a goal on your Bundesliga debut, at home, after five minutes, is definitely a rollercoaster," Quansah states. "However, my dominant emotion was that it was a tribute to Diogo."

Initial Struggles

The defender could have been forgiven for wondering what he had committed to at Leverkusen. From the promising start in their opening league fixture, they fell to a 2-1 defeat and the next match on August 30th was equally disappointing. Ten Hag's team threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen, the tying goal coming in added time. It was not Ten Hag's team for very long. His dismissal came on September 1st.

Staying Focused

Quansah doesn't appear to be the kind to worry. If calmness characterizes his playing style, it was evident during the interview he gave after joining England for the Wembley friendly against their rivals and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Quansah has remained focused under the new Leverkusen manager, Kasper Hjulmand, and continued to do what he originally planned to do at the team – compete. The new manager has established consistency. His team have positive results in their domestic campaign along with ties in each of their Champions League ties. But there is a more significant number that encourages Quansah, even bringing a measure of vindication. It is the one which shows he has played every minute of the club's campaign.

National Team Attention

It is one that Thomas Tuchel has noted. The England head coach was a admirer last season, including him when he announced his initial selection. After leaving him out in the summer so that Quansah could concentrate on the youth tournament, he provided him with a last-minute inclusion in the autumn when the experienced defender was compelled to pull out.

Yet to earn his international debut, Quansah must have done something right in training and around the camp because he was selected at the beginning in the manager's squad selection for the upcoming matches, effectively as a additional defensive option with the regular starter returning. The dream is a first appearance. It is one more milestone he would certainly take in his stride.

Career Choices

"At Leverkusen, the club were keen on signing me for a while and that's not just from the manager [Ten Hag]," Quansah explains. "They were interested before he got appointed. So knowing it was a type of organizational choice and things would remain consistent with which manager was to take over ... it was straightforward for me to make that decision.

"We had a numerous squad members departing and it's always tough when you see important figures leave. It has been tough to establish new hierarchies but the outcomes we have had recently show that we have developed a good squad with quality players. It is going to take time to develop and we are not where we want to be. But if we are achieving positive outcomes and avoiding defeats that is a good place to start."

Liverpool Departure

It had to have been a difficult separation for Quansah to leave Liverpool, his team since childhood, where he enjoyed so many significant occasions – such as the league cup triumph over Chelsea in the previous season when he came on as an late replacement.

Quansah was also a part of last season's Premier League title triumph. Yet his view of most of that achievement was not the perspective he would have preferred. He was an non-playing reserve on multiple matches in the competition, his four starts and nine appearances falling short compared to his numbers from 2023‑24 when he featured more regularly.

Career Development

"I've always learned off top-level professionals around me at my former club and it's been incredibly beneficial for my career," he says. "However, for a developing defender, you need games and I'm going to be needing extensive playing time to be where I want to be.

"My primary desire was game time and when you are at a team like Liverpool, it's not promised because there are world-class players throughout the squad. I wanted somewhere where they can have confidence that I might make mistakes at certain moments but they will look under that and see I can continue developing and improving."

Early Experience

Quansah recalls his loan to League One Bristol Rovers in the second-half of 2022-23 where he made his first senior appearances – multiple matches, to be exact. There were "multiple reality checks", he notes with a grin, beginning with his first game; a 5-1 defeat at Morecambe.

"That represented a genuine revelation," Quansah says. "It proved a extremely important part of my career because I wanted to make the subsequent progression to playing first-team football. Each match I gained fresh insights. That's when I understood how valuable practical knowledge and playing games was. You could say it informed my decision in the off-season."